Chef Jason Witzl of Ellie\u2019s will open his single-table space dubbed Ginger\u2019s, offering diners a multi-course intimate dinner, come Dec. 18.<\/p>\n
Now taking reservations, the 12-seat restaurant serves family-style, multi-course meals at $75 per head\u2014and it is the culmination<\/a> of a chef who has built up a reputation for consistency and quality.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m long-gaming this, Long Beach,\u201d Witzl told the Post earlier this year. \u201cI\u2019m breaking even on this\u2014and that\u2019s not something I\u2019m bragging about but trying to say I\u2019m investing in my city and I\u2019m investing in my neighbors. I want them to have something they can approach with happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n To put \u201capproachable\u201d in perspective,\u00a0Trois Mec<\/a>\u2014sadly given just a single star<\/a> by the reaching-for-obsolescence Michelin Guide in its latest California rankings but hitting #12<\/a> on the Los Angeles Times’ recent Best Restaurants list\u2014and its fixed-course dining options are so popular that they’re offered on a lottery system, Tuesday through Thursday, with the four-course dinner costing $85.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019ve built trust among your patrons,\u201d Witzl told the Post earlier this year, \u201cThey are more willing to invest in you.\u201d<\/p>\n For those interested, Witzl will likely be eschewing the Italian-centric focus of Ellie’s and explore other cuisines, particularly French and Mexican foods\u2014though, per the idea of a tasting menu, nothing is guaranteed other than the freshness of ingredients and the quality of the food.<\/p>\n Notwithstanding the massive amount of confusion that patrons seem to have when it comes to running a restaurant\u2014the overhead of restaurants lies not in food but in build-outs, labor, insurance, etc.\u2014the question of who restaurants are making their food for<\/em> is an essential question. And Witzl wants to give folks access to types of food that they would, in any other major city, be shuttered from.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, this concept has a lot of layers for me. I want it to lack pretense, I want it to be a mixture of people from all the neighborhoods of Long Beach,\u201d Witzl said. \u201cBut, most importantly, I really believe that we are separating ourselves from what the dinner table is. We don\u2019t talk around the dinner table anymore; we don\u2019t gather around it anymore. We\u2019re on our phones. We\u2019re disconnected.\u201d<\/p>\n The lament of Witzl is one he hopes to ameliorate through the food at Ginger’s. Witzl is not attempting to create a new space catering to a Los Angeles crowd; rather, he is creating a fine-dining experience specifically for Long Beach, one that is, as he said, approachable.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a way to make a very high-end dining experience also very approachable,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is my Sunday dinner concept. I want people from Belmont Shore to sit across from people from North Long Beach and\u00a0talk<\/em>. Share. Witness the relationships people will make.\u201d<\/p>\n Diners are permitted to add a wine pairing option for $35.<\/p>\n Ginger’s is located at 212 Orange Ave. Reservations can be made by emailing reserve@gingersreservations.com; note your name and the amount of guests who will attend. All seatings are at 7 p.m.<\/em><\/p>\n Brian Addison is a columnist and editor for the Long Beach Post.\u00a0<\/em>Reach him at\u00a0brian@lbpost.com\u00a0or on social media at\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>, and\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chef Jason Witzl of Ellie\u2019s will open his single-table space dubbed Ginger\u2019s, offering diners a multi-course intimate dinner, come Dec. 18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":70726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[18],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[2691],"class_list":["post-11134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","tag-alamitos-beach","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/211"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11134"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=11134"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}